Mostly Fiction Book Reviews

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2003-2005

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	THE AMALGAMATION POLKA by Stephen Wright A Civil War novel unlike any other.	WICKETT'S REMEDY by Myla Goldberg In a multidimensional, intricately wrought narrative, Myla Goldberg (Bee Season) leads us back to Boston in the early part of the twentieth century and into two completely captivating worlds.	LEONARDO'S SWANS by Karen Essex A haunting novel of rivalry, love, and betrayal that transports readers back to Renaissance Italy.

	DARK FIRE by C. J. Sansom A sixteenth-century thriller featuring hunchback lawyer Matthew Shardlake. It is 1540, during the reign of Henry VIII, and Shardlake is asked to help a young girl accused of murder.	PASSION: A NOVEL OF THE ROMANTIC POETS by Jude Morgan The attempted suicide of Mary Wollstonecraft opens this carefully researched, deeply imagined novel about the Romantic poets, as seen by the women who loved them.	THE SULTAN'S SEAL by Jenny White Set in the ancient city "Stanbul" in the waning days of the Ottoman Empire (1886). Political intrigue, espionage and social upheaval are rife, even in the sultan's harem. A historical mystery with a bit of romance thrown in.

	HOUSE OF MANY GODS by Kiana Davenport Told in spellbinding and mythic prose, this is a deeply complex and provocative love story set against the background of Hawaii and Russia. Interwoven throughout with the indelible portrait of a native Hawaiian family struggling against poverty, drug wars, and the increasing military occupation of their sacred lands.	THE DEVIL OF NANKING by Mo Hayder A young Englishwoman, obsessed with an indecipherable past, comes to Tokyo seeking a lost piece of film footage of the notorious 1937 Nanking Massacre, footage some say never existed.	PERFECT CIRCLE by Sean Stewart William "Dead" Kennedy is a haunted man. Literally. He sees dead people with unfinished business. Has all his life. Moreover, he is haunted by an ex-wife he can't get over, and, recently, long-deceased Uncle Billy has been pestering him for something as yet unidentified. Mixed with down-home Texas humor, this is one of those authors we can't figure out why he isn't better known.

	THE MERCY OF THIN AIR by Ronlyn Domingue In late 1920s New Orleans, "Razi" Nolan carries on a passionate college love affair with Andrew O'Connell. She desires immortality ("One lifetime isn't enough to make all the trouble of which I'm capable") and gets her wish when she slips poolside, dies and finds herself in a state "between life and whatever comes next."	THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS by Katrina Kittle Sarah Laden is a widow with two sons, Nate and Danny, and a thriving catering business. Her best friend, Courtney, helped her through the horrible days after her husband's death and is always there when she's needed. Her son, Jordan, is Danny's best friend. Then one day all that changes. If you like Jodi Picoult, you should try this one.	BEFORE YOU KNOW KINDNESS by Chris Bohjalian Animal rights' activist Spencer McCullough is accidently shot with a hunting rifle -- the gun is owned by his brother-in-law and the shooter is Spencer's twelve-year-old daughter. Domestic drama mixed with political issues.

	MISSION TO AMERICA by Walter Kirn Mason LaVerle and Elias Stark, both 24, have been sent out from their sheltered lives -- they live in within a secluded sect called the Aboriginal Fulfilled Apostles (AFA) located in Bluff, Montana. The AFA seems to reflect the arbitrariness of American religious dogma, stealing a bit from the Amish, Mormons, Hindus, Hopi Indians, Christians and New Agers.	THE HOUSE OF SCORTA by Laurent Gaudé Winner of France’s most prestigious literary prize, set in the unforgiving south of Italy, this is an epic tale of love, lies, and a family’s disgrace.	HOUSE OF PAPER by Carlos Maria Domínguez Some bibliophiles become so ensnared in their passion that books would seem to become the very rooms and rooftops of their lives. This seems literally to be the case for the elusive Carlos Brauer, a South American who mailed a cement-caked book to professor Bluma Lennon, only to have it arrive after she died.

	SLIPPING INTO DARKNESS by Peter Blauner A gritty and intense police procedural about a murder and its aftermath. USA Today says that this book "may very well be the crime novel of the year."	THE WALL by Jeff Long Once upon a time, thirty-five years ago, Hugh and Lewis were Yosemite legends. El Capitan was their holy grail, and their destiny seemed written on its big walls. Now, the old friends reunite to climb El Cap one last time.	POINT OF ENTRY by Peter Schecter First-time novelist Schechter draws on his background as an international political and communications consultant for this international thriller that takes place in a future that looks much like the present.

	FALSE IMPRESSION by Jeffrey Archer When an aristocratic old lady is brutally murdered in her English country home on the night before September 11, 2001, it will take all the resources of the FBI and Interpol to work out the connection between her death and a priceless Van Gogh, which is stolen that night. Be sure to check out this author's bio.	WESTSIDE by John Mackie In a Manhattan bar, two strangers pick up a soon-to-be-dead look-alike for one of them. They pull off a flawless one-and-a-half million dollar insurance fraud. Detective Sergeant Thorn Savage and his Manhattan South Homicide squad enter the investigation and are drawn into the city's seamy underbelly. Chuck reviews the previous three novels in this series as well.	THE GIRL WITH THE LONG GREEN HEART by Lawrence Block This con story was Lawrence Block’s fifth novel, originally published in 1965, and has now been re-released as Hard Case Crime’s 16th book. Still an excellent read.

	ZERO TO THE BONE by Robert Eversz Nina Zero, L.A. paparazzi and amateur detective, receives a video of a snuff film on her opening night of her first gallery show and suddenly realizes why her model missed the opening.	KILL ME by Stephen White A thriller that takes the right-to-die debate a bit further. What if you had enough money to put a contract out on your life so that you don't have to live to the bitter end?	GARGOYLES by Alan Nayes grisly what-if tale, speculating about the possible outcome of human gene research gone bad.


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